ROOTS
by thew40
Summary: [COMPLETE] A co-op fic by thew40 and Brimstone. Two adventures unfold, one in the past with MOTUPOP, the second in the future with NA - both linked by an incredible weapon that could spell the end of countless worlds! Please R&R!
1. Prelude

ROOTS

A co-op fic by thew40 and Brimstone

The characters and places featured in this story are the property of their owners, not the authors. This story has been written for entertainment purposes only. Thew40 and Brimstone created the Jewel of Amara exclusively for this fic. If for some reason you want to use it, please ask us.

Prologue

Skeletor slowly stalked the dark corridors of the Mutants base on Denebria. In his hands he held a small red gem. As Skeletor stared at the glowing gem he began to consider weather he should allow Brakk control of the gem's power. Skeletor looked up from the gem as he reached the twin steel doors that led to Brakk's command room. Skeletor quickly placed the gem in to a small pouch on his belt and then opened the doors and entered the room.

In the centre of the room sat around the large round command table were Hoove, Kalamarr, Quakke, Staghorn and of course, Brakk himself. Brakk was furious as he glared at Skeletor as he walked in to the room. Skeletor smiled to himself as he sat down. It always pleased Skeletor to allow Brakk believe that he followed his orders even though in reality Skeletor had the power to crush Brakk and any other Mutant that tried to stand in his way in his quest to gain the ultimate power of the universe.

"I'm sorry I'm late," said Skeletor. "I had something......"

Brakk held up his hand to silence Skeletor.

"I do not need to hear your excuses," snapped Brakk. "I have heard enough already." Brakk then turned to the other Mutants. "Now who would exactly care to tell me what happened?"

The Mutants quickly shared glances with each other before Hoove slowly raised a hand.

"We had managed to get past the Primans defence shields in the Terrorpod and were heading towards the capital city," Hoove began to explain. "However we were attacked by a fleet of attack craft piloted by the Galactic Guardians. As we were outnumbered we had no choice but to abandon our mission and return to Nordor."

Brakk let out a small smile.

"If you were outnumbered, how do you explain this?" said Brakk as he pressed a button on the control panel in front of him.

Instantly a holographic image of the Terrorpod appeared. It was shown flying through the sky of Primus suddenly a small one manned Bola-Jet appeared behind the Terrorpod. The Terrorpod opened fire on the Bola-Jet but the pilot easily dodged the energy blasts and returned fire. The Bola-Jet scored a lucky shot on the Terrorpod. The Terrorpod launched a smoke missile. The missile exploded sending a cloud of thick smoke out in front of the Bola-Jet. As the Bola-Jet was in the middle of the smoke cloud the Terrorpod changed its direction and flew away from Primus.

Brakk pressed another button and the image vanished. Brakk then slowly turned back to the Mutants. Each of them tried not to make eye contact with Brakk. This made Brakk even more furious.

"GET OUT OF HERE YOU INCOMPETENT FOOLS!!!" snapped Brakk as he shot up out of his chair.

The Mutants couldn't move fast enough to get away from Brakk's wrath. Once the Mutants had left the room Brakk heard the slow sound of clapping. Brakk slowly turned to see Skeletor who remained sat in his seat.

"What are you still doing here?" snarled Brakk.

Skeletor slowly rose out of his seat.

"Brakk my dear fellow," said Skeletor as he faced the leader of the Mutants. "You should really remember I am not one of your moronic half-wits."

"You may not be a Mutant or a Priman. But you are still under my command. And I demand that you follow my orders!"

Skeletor let out a small chuckle.

"You are truly as stupid as you look," Skeletor then raised his hand and a blast of energy shot from his fingers and Brakk was thrown through the air. As Brakk hit the ground he looked up through dizzy eyes to see Skeletor walking up to him his eyes glowing a bright red. "I FOLLOW NO ONE'S ORDERS!!! I AM THE OVERLORD OF EVIL," Skeletor's voice echoed throughout the room. "You truly have no idea what power I command."

"W-W-What are you going to do?" said Brakk trying to hide the fear he felt. "Are you going take control of the Mutants?"

"I have no need for more bafoons," said Skeletor. "I have plenty waiting for me back on Eternia. No you will remain in command. All I need you to do is destroy He-man for me."

"Anything you command Skeletor," replied Brakk pulling himself off the ground. "But how can we do this? He-man has beaten back every attack we throw at him."

"There is one thing you haven't tried," said Skeletor as he removed the gem from its pouch on his belt. "This is the Jewel of Amara. It lay hidden under Eternia's surface for thousands of years, that is until I found it. Little did they know what power this tiny gem held."

"And what is the gem's power?" asked Brakk.

"The keeper of the Jewel of Amara has the power to turn the fear that lies in a person's heart in to a weapon against that person." explained Skeletor.

The instant Skeletor had finished Brakk began to plan a use for the Jewel of Amara.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter 1

He-man stood on his balcony that looked over the great Prime City looking down at the people going about their daily business.

"Its amazing isn't it?" said Mara as she walked on to the balcony to join He-man.

"What is?" asked He-man.

"The people going about as if they weren't under constant threat from the Mutants every day." said Mara. 

"It is a surprise how strong willed people become when their freedom is under threat." said He-man remembering back to his friends and family back on Eternia and how no matter how much the likes of Skeletor, King Hiss or Hordak threw at them they were still determined to live their lives the way they wanted.

He-man was about to tell Mara this when the communicator but in to his right wrist guard buzzed. He-man pressed a button and opened a comm-link to whoever it was on the other end.

"He-man thank the Council that I found you," said the voice from the communicator. "It's Flipshot here. We need your help. A band of Mutants have managed to land near outskirts of Capital City. We have some warriors heading over there now, but the Mutants are heavily armed and could start attacking the city at any moment."

"Say no more," said He-man. "I'm on my way."

Brakk and his fellow Mutants, Kalamarr, Butthead, Quakke and Hoove stormed out of their Terrorpod and headed towards the main gates of Capital City.

"Remember," said Brakk to his Mutants. "You have to keep the Galactic Guardians busy while I use the Jewel of Amara."

"Yes sir!" replied all the Mutants at once.

Once they had reached the main gates to the city Brakk turned to Butthead and Quakke.

"You two get us in there!" commanded Brakk.

The two Mutants nodded and charged towards the gates. Butthead lowered his hard head and ran in to the gates; there was a loud thud as he collided with the gate. When he stepped back Butthead saw that a large dent had formed in the metal of the gate.

"Call that a dent?" growled Quakke. "I'll show you a dent."

Quakke the lifted up the huge piece of meteor that he had tied to one end of unbrakeable cable. With a show of strength that nearly rivaled He-man's, Quakke began to swing the meteor around his head. Once the meteor was spinning so fast that it was a blur, Quakke swung it forward towards the gate. The meteor began glowing red as it flew through the air and when it struck the gate there was a loud explosion and when the smoke cleared the gate was gone.

"See I told you." laughed Quakke.

"We do not have time for this!" snapped Brakk as he pointed to the on coming city guards.

The instant both the Mutants and the city guards came within range of each other blaster fire began. Using the fire fight as a distraction Brakk crept in to the city.

'_Now to test this thing._' thought Brakk as he looked around for a victim. Suddenly overhead he heard the sounds of an engine. Looking up, Brakk saw that it was the Galactic Guardian called Flipshot.

"Perfect," Brakk said to himself. "Flipshot will the my first to test the Jewel of Amara on."

Brakk then removed his blaster from its holster and began firing at Flipshot. The bolts of blaster energy narrowly missed Flipshot. Flipshot turned to see who was firing at him and saw Brakk. Instantly Flipshot charged his direction and flew towards Brakk. Brakk calmly watched as Flipshot got closer. Once Flipshot was as close as Brakk wanted, Brakk removed the Jewel of Amara from his belt and held it up in his hands. The jewel began to pulse with a bright red light. Flipshot saw the jewel and stopped. His eyes were fixed on the pulsing light. Unable to move Flipshot was helpless as a bright red beam shot out from the jewel and struck Flipshot in the chest. The instant he was hit by the beam Flipshot's mind exploded with pain. As Flipshot fell to his knees he opened his eyes. All around him Capital City was in flames. The people who lived in the city were fleeing the city. Some were struck by falling debris. As each ran past Flipshot they glared at him through burning red eyes.

__

"You failed us!" each one called out to him. _"It is because of you we are like this!!"_

Suddenly the scenery changed and Flipshot could see more dead bodies littering the city streets. Then he heard footsteps approaching. Slowly Flipshot lifted his head and saw Brakk heading his way. Brakk stopped and then raised his blaster and pressed the trigger.

Flipshot let out a terrible scream and then fell face first on to the ground. A evil smile came to Brakk's face as he stared at the unconscious body of Flipshot.

"Excellent," said Brakk as his attention turned to the jewel in his hand. "I can use this weapon to destroy my enemies. Skeletor will regret the day he gave me such power."

The Sorceress sat in deep meditation in her quarters on the mighty Star Ship Eternia. Even thought the council of Primus had offered her a place of her own, the Sorceress preferred to be on the ship, as it was now host to all the powers Castle Grayskull had to offer. As the Sorceress allowed her mind to drift in to the memories of Eternia and the battle that raged, no doubt still, between good she felt something very familiar calling for her attention. The Sorceress left her thoughts of Eternia behind and decided to allow her mind to follow what was calling her. In her mind she was flying over the surface of Primus looking down at the cities that were very different than those found on Eternia, suddenly the landscape changed it no resembled the Sands of Time. As she continued the Sorceress noticed two figures standing in the middle of the desert. Flying closer she saw that it was Brakk. He was standing over the fallen body of Flipshot. Then she noticed a object in Brakk's and her heart ran cold. For the object even though as beautiful as a clear day at the Crystal Falls it was also as dark and forbidding as the nights around Snake Mountain.

'_By the Elders it cannot be true!' _thought the Sorceress in horror. '_I must warn He-man at once._'

The Sorceress opened her eyes and got up from her chair. She then walked to the door of her room. As the door slid open the Sorceress began to glow with a brilliant white light. As the light washed over her body she began to transform in to a large silver falcon. Once the transformation was complete the falcon flapped its great wings and took off to find He-man.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

He-Man rushed down the alley, his feet splishing and splashing in puddles. Prime City was huge and getting to the gate was taking more time that he wanted. This was his mission all the same, though. What he sacrificed by coming here was much more than ever he wanted. No longer could he turn into Adam. He-Man was his life. His sacrifice.

As He-Man came closer to the gate where the attack had taken place, his eyes spotted at least five Bolajets shooting towards his own destination.

After a little longer, the hero arrived at the gate, where Hydron was directing men in Prime City. There seemed to be no one else but the good guys, which surprised He-Man.

"Hydron!" He-Man greeted to his friend.

"He-Man, we have a situation," Hydron filled in. "Flipshot got to them first."

"Is he alright?" He-Man wondered, looking past Hydron to the slowly recovering Flipshot.

"For the most part."

He-Man couldn't help but stare at Flipshot. He was shaking and looked exhausted. Something had happened here. This wasn't just a shot in the stomach or a punch in the face. Something that had shaken his very heart and soul. He-Man had seen this sort of thing before, but he couldn't seem to recall it.

"Where are they?" asked He-Man, trying to remember.

"It looks like they headed into the sewers, He-Man. I'm assembling a team to handle them."

"Good. I'll be coming too."

"HE-MAN!" came a sharp cry. He-Man spun around to find the Sorceress' in her falcon form swooping down towards him. As soon as the falcon touched down, it flashed and became the female Sorceress. "He-Man, Skeletor still has the Jewel of Amara!"

He-Man's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"We thought it destroyed, but he had it the whole time," Sorceress explained.

"He brought it with him. He used it on Flipshot."

"And we'll use it on everyone else if we can't stop him, He-Man. You must find them."

"Right," He-Man stated, pulling out his sword and prepping his shield. "Let's move it! Into the sewers!"

But as He-Man, Hydron and a number of others entered the sewers, a memory came into play. 

A memory . . . of a different time . . .

***

It was many years ago. The winds of an early winter were sweeping across Eternos as Prince Adam sat in the courtyard. Cringer was playing with a bright blue ball, not affected by the cold at all due to his thick, green and yellow-stripped fur.

Adam, on the other hand, was wearing a light coat and found himself relaxing as the sky opened up let out a little of the suns rays. It was a peaceful day, with no attacks from Skeletor or any of his lackeys.

"Mind if I join you?" asked Man-At-Arms, holding two mugs of cocoa.

"Sure thing, Duncan," replied the blond-haired prince, taking a mug. They watched as Cringer continued to play around with his little blue ball, having the time of his life.

"I've been working on some re-designs of the Dragon Walker. I'm hoping to make it faster."

"That's great, Duncan. Do you need any help?"

"No, not really. I'm out for some fresh air. Need to relax. I've hit a sort of 'inventor's block.' I can't think of anything that I - "

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble. Cringer let out a loud yelp and hid underneath the bench where the two males were sitting. Man-At-Arms immediately opened up a panel on his wrist-armor and watched as readings appeared on the screen.

"What is this, Duncan?"

"Some sort of tremor. It appears to be emanating from the Sands of Time. Come on."

The pair stood up quickly. Cringer followed intently. The three made their way into the laboratory. The tremors were starting to calm themselves. By the time they entered the lab, the tremors had ceased completely. Man-At-Arms began at one of his computers, studying read-outs.

Right then, King Randor marched into the room. His face looked stressed and very concerned. Though he showed a bit of pride seeing Adam there, Randor's main thoughts were focused on what was happening.

"What was that, Man-At-Arms?" Randor thundered.

"Some sort of tremor. The epicenter was somewhere in the eastern half of the Sands of Time. It looks like there was an energy spike in that area as well. I'll take Teela, Stratos, and Ram Man with me to investigate."

Adam was about to say something when he heard a female voice in his mind. '_Adam,_' called the Sorceress, '_come to Castle Grayskull at once._'

Sighing, Adam turned to Randor. "I'll, um, prepare the Talon Fighter. You know how THAT OLD BIRD needs to be warmed."

Man-At-Arms paused, then nodded in understanding. Randor just looked confused. "Are you going there too, Adam?"

"Um, well, I . . ."

"Adam will be monitoring from the desert, sire."

"I see. Well, please inform me as soon as you hear anything," Randor stated, walking down the corridor.

Adam turned to Man-At-Arms. "The Sorceress wants to see me immediately. Come on, Cring. Let's get moving."

"Ohhhhh no," Cringer moaned, backing up.

"Oh yes, old friend," Adam replied with a grin. He pulled out his mighty sword and lifted it high above his head. "BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL . . ." Adam shouted. Power began to flash all around him and light swirled and thundered to his sword and body. ". . . I HAVE THE POWER!"

The Sword of Power unleashed a transformation upon Adam's body. The feel of familiarity filled his being as the meek Adam became the extraordinary He-Man. He-Man turned his glowing blade at Cringer. Cringer reeled back, but it was for naught. As the same power that had swept over Adam ran towards Cringer, the young tiger was transformed into Battle Cat.

"You know, that still impresses me," Man-At-Arms observed.

"You're not the only one," He-Man mused. "We have a lot to do. I'll meet you after I see the Sorceress."

"Gotcha."

After a ride on Battle Cat, He-Man arrived at Castle Grayskull. The drawbridge cranked open, inviting He-Man inside. He-Man hopped off of Battle Cat and the pair strode through the great door of the Castle. The Sorceress greeted him with a stern expression

"He-Man," she said in a straightforward manner, "it is good you have come. An event that calls upon your strength is needed."

"I suspected as much. What is going on?"

"You felt that tremor, I expect."

"Yes."

"It was Skeletor. It seems that Skeletor is hunting down an ancient weapon called the Jewel of Amara. Skeletor believes that this Jewel is capable of creating ones greatest fears."

"Right. I'm on it!" He-Man shouted, leaping onto Battle Cat. He roared out of Castle Grayskull. The Sorceress called after him.

"NO! He-Man, there is much more that you do not know!"

But the great warrior didn't even hear her words as he charged Northeast.

***

"He-Man!" shouted Hydron. "Over here!"

He-Man was suddenly torn from his memories and was back in the present day. Beneath Prime City, chasing the Mutants. "What is it?" asked the great warrior.

Hydron lifted a light onto an area of the wall. On a small pipe, there was a red piece of cloth. "This material here. It's the same kind of cloth that makes up Brakk's cape. They're heading this way."

"Right. Let's move it."

The group rushed down the tunnel. As they did, there was an explosion and everyone but Brakk was there facing them. In a matter of seconds, the battle was joined.


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter 3

As the battle raged behind him Brakk quickly made his way through the sewers. Clutched tightly in his hands was the Jewel of Amara. Brakk looked down at the jewel and smiled to himself.

'_First I shall use these tunnels to get me in to the council chambers,_' thought Brakk as his mind came up with vile ways for the use of the Jewel of Amara. '_Then once Primus is mine all shall bow to me!!_'

Brakk raced around corner after corner. Soon he came to the place he was searching for. Above his head was the council chambers, the point of all power of all Primus. Brakk quickly found a access tunnel that led to the chambers. Using his blaster Brakk shot the lock off the gate that covered the entrance to the tunnel.

As the battle continued between the Galactic Guardians and the Mutants, He-man moved closer to Hydron as the captain of the Priman sea forces fought off an attack by Hoove.

"Have you seen Brakk anywhere?" asked He-man as he brought his sword up to block a strike from Butthead.

"I haven't," said Hydron as he avoided a blow from one of Hoove's powerful legs. "It wouldn't surprise me if that worm hasn't run off deeper in to the sewers," Hydron swung his Trident-Blaster up and struck Hoove in the chest. "I'm a fool," said Hydron as a thought suddenly came to him. "These sewers run under the entire city. Even the council chambers."

He-man leaped out of the way as Butthead charged towards him. The mighty mutant crashed in to Hoove sending him flying through the air. Before Butthead could recover He-man grabbed him from behind and lifted him in to the air. He-man then slammed Butthead to the ground. Butthead let out a stunned groan as the wind was driven from his lungs.

"Where are the council chambers?" asked He-man. Hydron pulled out a data-padd from his belt and handed it to He-man. On the padd was a map of the sewers the way to the council chambers were marked in red.

"Can you handle the mutants?" asked He-man. Hydron nodded as he deflected a blow from another mutant.

Without another word He-man turned and pushed his way through the battle to follow Brakk's path.

Brakk stepped from the access tunnel and in to the council chambers. All was quiet as the mutant slowly crept his way through the great halls of the chambers until he found the main council hall. Looking down at the small sensor screen built in to his wrist guard Brakk saw that the Council of Primus were in the hall. Smiling to himself Brakk held up the Jewel of Amara then with one kick Brakk smashed open the doors.

Each member of the council turned to the doors and were stunned to see Brakk standing before them.

"Just the people I wanted to see," hissed Brakk in a menacing voice. "Give the power of Primus over to me! Or you shall suffer terror beyond all imagination!"

Thakall the council's head of security and defense stood up and glared at Brakk.

"How dare you threaten us!" snapped Thakall. His hand quickly reached for a button on the control panel in front of him.

Brakk raised the Jewel of Amara. The jewel began to glow, suddenly a ray of blinding light shot out and engulfed Thakall. The rest of the council could only sit frozen with fear as Thakall screamed with terror as his greatest fears were forced to the surface. 

As He-man raced towards the council hall he heard the terrible cries of agony and pain.

'_What is Brakk doing to them,_' thought He-man as he raced faster. '_I have to get to them!_'

The destroyed doors of the great hall were just ahead. From inside the hall He-man could see Brakk standing in front of the doors, a bright light was radiating from him. In the background He-man could also see the council members.

"BRAKK!!!" cried He-man as he readied his sword for battle.

Brakk turned and let out a curse as he saw He-man coming towards him.

"Why won't you leave me alone!" snapped Brakk as he lowered the Jewel of Amara and grabbed his laser whip.

Brakk cracked his laser whip at He-man. He-man leaped out of the way as a bolt of stun energy flew towards him. He-man landed and quickly rolled to his feet.

"I can truly understand why Skeletor hates you so much!" hissed Brakk as he cracked his whip again.

He-man swung his shield up just in time to deflect the blow.

"Brakk," said He-man as he avoided another attack. "I'm truly hurt."

Infuriated by He-man's comments Brakk roared with anger. Again Brakk cracked his whip sending bolts of energy screaming towards He-man and again He-man used his shield to deflect the attacks, however while He-man was distracted Brakk made a grab for his blaster. With one quick movement Brakk snatched his blaster from his belt and aimed it at He-man. Brakk pressed the trigger of his blaster as He-man span around, the blaster energy struck He-man on the arm forcing him to drop his sword. Smiling to himself Brakk fired again but He-man leaped out of the way. Seeing He-man heading towards his fallen sword. Letting out a low hiss Brakk cracked his whip once more. The laser whip flew through the air and wrapped itself around He-man's arm just as He-man reached out for his sword. As the laser whip began burning in to He-man's skin Brakk pulled on the whip yanking He-man away from the sword.

Brakk then pressed a button on his whip and a jolt of energy raced down the whip and in to He-man's body. Gritting his teeth against the pain racing through his body He-man began to pull on the whip. Brakk began to increase the power flowing through the whip. He-man let out a cry of pain and then dropped his shield. With his free hand He-man grabbed the whip and with all the power that Grayskull gave him, He-man tore the whip from Brakk's grasp. The base of Brakk's whip swung through the air and around and struck the surprised Brakk across the jaw. As Brakk flew through the air the whips energy vanished and the device hit the wall shattering in to a thousand pieces. As Brakk hit the wall himself he almost dropped the Jewel of Amara. Catching the jewel just before it hit the ground Brakk then held it up towards He-man. With no sword or shield to protect him He-man was struck by the jewels magic. Instantly He-man felt like his entire body was on fire. As his mind began to form image after image of Primus burning and the Mutant forces destroying everything in their path, He-man began to use all of his incredible willpower to combat the magic of the Jewel of Amara. Sweat began pouring from He-man's body as he fell to his hands and knees, He-man could no longer see the council chambers or Brakk, only the destruction his mind was creating. Suddenly the images started to change and reform in to images of Eternia. As He-man finally collapsed his mind turned away from the fear the Jewel of Amara was generating but instead began focusing on a time on Eternia where the Jewel of Amara had first been found......

***

With a ferocity unlike any other creature on Eternia, Battle Cat surged towards the Sands of Time. In a matter of hours, both Battle Cat and He-Man had arrived at the destination. As anticipated, Man-At-Arms was in trouble. The masters of weapons was using a laser beam to blast away Webstor, while Tri-Klops was trying to avoid getting clobbered over the head with his club.

He-Man and Battle Cat dove in. Battle Cat landed on Webstor while He-Man smashed Tri-Klops onto a nearby sand dune. Man-At-Arms spun around to thank the hero, but his eyes quickly spotted Two-Bad and Kobra Khan charging forth.

Just as the pair were about to come upon them, a sand dune rippled and came crashing down. He-Man, Man-At-Arms, and Battle Cat leapt out of the way. As the sand washed over Tri-Klops and Webstor as well, the trio looked to the North and saw Teela, Stratos and Mekaneck. Ram Man was just joining them, making it very apparent that he was behind the attack.

"I called for back-up," Man-At-Arms told He-Man.

"Good idea," He-Man replied with a grin as they made their way over.

"That won't hold them for long," Ram Man said, as the villains already began to pop out of the sand. He-Man nodded and turned to Man-At-Arms once more.

"There's a temple over that dune. Looks like it's just been unearthed."

Teela smiled at the group around her. "Then what are we waiting for?"

Together, they trotted towards the temple. It was quite tall, with all sorts of markings on it. He-Man felt a strange feeling inside of him as he stared at the newly recovered structure. It was a sort of . . . yearning . . .

He shook it off quickly and looked at its base. The doors were wide open and guarded by Trap-Jaw, Kobra Khan, Clawful and Whiplash. He-Man turned to the others.

"Skeletor must be inside. Can you guys hold off these buffoons until I get in there?"

As soon as He-Man said that, though, laser fire began to shot towards their direction. "Looks like we won't have a choice!" yelped Stratos.

"Let's charge then!" shouted Ram Man, jumping into action. He came down the dune and bashed right into Whiplash.

As Man-At-Arms unleashed beams of energy at Trap-Jaw, Teela slid down to Clawful and delivered a quick kick to his face. Stratos shot forward, getting the attention of Kobra Khan long enough for Battle Cat to pounce on him.

He-Man made right for the door. Inside was a long and dark tunnel. He unsheathed his Sword of Power and took off running. As he made his way down the darkened corridor, his eyes came upon a bright square before him. It was the entrance to another room, he found. His eyes could make out a figure - Skeletor, of course.

Just as he was about to enter, a large figure smashed right into him. He-Man went spiraling around as the figure - Beast Man - smashed his fists against He-Man's body. The Sword of Power went flying. Caught completely off-guard, Beast Man slashed across He-Man back.

But He-Man was able to recover and was about to deliver a punch to Beast-Man's gut when a surge of power ripped through him. He-Man, his body smoldering, fell to the ground in a heap. Magical bounds, then, formed around his arms and legs.

Evil Lynn stepped out of the darkness and nodded at Beast-Man. The animal man lifted the binded hero up and pulled him into the room Skeletor was in.

"Ah, He-Man," Skeletor greeted, his eyes on a huge wall. "How good to see you again."

"You'll never have the Jewel of Amara, Skeletor!" He-Man swore.

"We'll see about that, little hero," Skeletor snickered in return. "We'll see about that . . ."

Meanwhile, outside, the battle continued to rage as Tri-Klops, Webstor, Kobra Khan and Two-Bad joined in. Man-At-Arms, Teela, Stratos, Ram Man and Battle Cat all stood side-by-side, facing down the legion of evil warriors.

"Reinforcements will be here soon," Man-At-Arms said as the evil warriors began to come closer in.

"Looks like we'll have to fend for ourselves until then," Stratos replied, preparing for battle.

Just as the warriors of good and evil were about to smash into each other, a thunderous noise caught their attention. The two groups stopped in their tracks as a portal opened . . . and an army marched out.

Skeletor, in the meantime, stood between He-Man and the wall. He threw his staff into the air and a beam of energy struck out from it. It struck the wall, which then began to shake and rumble. The wall then lifted up, disappearing from sight.

A new chamber was revealed. In it was a set of circular stairs leading up to stand. And on that stand was a red-glowing gem. Skeletor took a deep breathe and started forward. But before Skeletor could even touch it, the sound of metal boots filled the room.

Horde Troopers flowed in then, unleashing their weapons on Skeletor, Evil Lynn, and Beast-Man. He-Man felt the magical bounds disappear and stood up to face off with the Troopers. He had already smashed up two when the Horde Elite entered.

As Modulock and Mantenna kept the hero of Eternia busy, Leech snuck around him. Then, pressing his webbed hands against He-Man - he drained off some of his energy. He-Man slumped onto the ground, his vision going in and out as Hordak himself entered into the chamber.

"This will do perfectly. . .," Hordak said with a sneer.

Then, He-Man was out.

A few hours later, he awoke to splash of water. His eyes began to focus on Man-At-Arms and Teela. They were outside the temple once more, and the sun was quickly sinking. Then, the memory flashed back! Hordak had the Jewel of Amara!

"Are you okay?" asked Man-At-Arms.

"Yeah . . ." He-Man began. "But Hordak . . ."

"I know. He's gone. Back to Etheria."

"Where's Skeletor?" He-Man asked, sitting up.

"Left for Snake Mountain."

He-Man seemed a bit confused. "Why didn't he take me captive, then?"

"His men were just about incapacitated. Probably weren't up for a fight from us."

"I see."

"He-Man, we have another problem," Ram Man confessed.

"What's that?"

"Well, that stun beam didn't hit me as hard as the rest of you and I overheard Hordak talkin'. He said that the leader of the Great Rebellion? Adam's sister? Adora? She's been kidnapped."

He-Man suddenly felt the bottom fall out . . .


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter 4

He-man felt hands gently lifting him off the ground. He couldn't feel the heat of the desert, or even the sand beneath his feet, instead the ground was cool and smooth. He-man slowly opened his eyes and realized where he was. He was on Primus inside the council chambers.

"Its OK we've got you." He-man heard the voice of Hydron say.

Slowly as his mind began to clear his thoughts turned back to the present day.

"B-Brakk?" asked He-man when he could finally speak.

"He bolted as soon as him comrades were defeated," said Hydron. "We would have gone after him but the council needed our help more."

"How are they?" asked He-man remembering Brakk's attack on them.

"They'll be fine in a few hours," said Tartarrus as he stepped from the main hall. "They're suffering from the same thing Flipshot is suffering from."

"The Jewel of Amara," hissed He-man. "How on Eternia did Skeletor manage to bring that cursed thing here?"

Brakk was in a foul mood as his mutants returned from their failed mission on Primus. He looked down at the Jewel of Amara in his hands and began cursing Skeletor's name. 

"Skeletor you said this thing would give control over Primus!" snarled Brakk as he charged in to Skeletor's chambers. "All it did was lead us to another defeat!!"

"The Jewel of Amara is not the cause of your defeat," said Skeletor as he stepped out of the shadows. Brakk saw that Skeletor was dressed in his Disks of Doom battle armor. "The key to your failure as always lay at you incompetent feet and those you command as well."

"I command you as well!" snapped Brakk. "You had best remember that!"

Skeletor smiled to himself allowing himself to enjoy watching Brakk bark his orders.

"Of cause I remember," said Skeletor deciding to allow Brakk his command. "But you have over looked one fact."

"And what is that?" asked Brakk.

"The council will still be surfering from the effects of the Jewel of Amara," said Skeletor. "The key to the power of Primus is weak now is the perfect time to conquer that planet."

Brakk smiled as he realized what Skeletor was saying.

"Of cause!" cried Brakk. "How could I have been so blind. I shall organize another attack. And with He-man suffering from the jewels power the Galactic Guardians will be unable to stand in our way."

Triumphant Brakk turned and left Skeletor's chambers to begin the attack on Primus. After the doors had closed Skeletor spotted the Jewel of Amara sat on a nearby table. Skeletor walked over to the table and picked up the jewel.

__

'Brakk you fool,' Skeletor thought. _'Go conquer Primus and then I shall have a surprise for your return!'_

Then Skeletor's eyes began to glow as brightly as the jewel he held in his hands.

He-man woke to find himself in a hospital bed. With the other beds around him being occupied by the various members of the Primus council he guessed that he was in the high security ward of Capital City's main hospital. Slowly He-man sat up, he was still a little dizzy after Brakk's attack with the Jewel of Amara.

"You need to take it easy," said one of the doctors as she came over to his bed. "Your body is still weak from the attack."

"You should listen to her my friend," said Darius who was sat at the next bed. He-man looked over to see that Flipshot was in the bed. "Flipshot still hasn't fully recovered. It looks like whatever hit Flipshot and the council members didn't have the same effect on you."

"I've been through it before," said He-man. "And I almost didn't survive then."

"But you did survive," replied Darius. "Tell us so that we can try the same thing with the others."

Before He-man could speak the Sorceress appeared from a bright light.

"It was I that helped He-man through his first taste of the power of the Jewel of Amara," said the Sorceress answering Darius's question. "Along with the power of Castle Grayskull."

"So you can cure them?" asked Darius.

"I can only cure the effects that the Jewel of Amara has," replied the Sorceress. "It is then up to the individual to battle the emotional scars of what they were forced to witness. And then I could only do so inside the walls of Castle Grayskull."

Darius felt his hope suddenly vanish at the mention of the legendary fortress of good that was back on the planet Eternia.

"There must be some way of helping them?" said Darius. "Without the council Primus will fall in to panic an chaos. Especially if there's no He-man to help and protect it."

"There is one possible way," said He-man from his bed. Everyone turned to await for more. "The Star Ship Eternia hosts the power of Grayskull. Would that work just as well as the castle?"

"I believe that will work perfectly," said the Sorceress. "Only we have to get everyone to the Eternia."

"I'll organize some transport for the council." said Tartarrus.

"In the meantime I will use my magic to transport He-man and Flipshot to the Eternia." said the Sorceress.

The Sorceress then held her hands up and she along with He-man and Flipshot vanished in a flash of light.

***

Man-At-Arms entered into the Throne Room, Randor's gaze falling onto his trusted advisor immediately. "Duncan, what is it?"

"Skeletor somehow uncovered the lost Jewel of Amara, but Hordak arrived and stole it before - sire?"

Randor's eyes had grown huge, his mouth agape. "Did you say the 'Jewel of Amara?'"

"Yes, sir."

The King sighed heavily and rubbed his brow. Marlena looked over to her husband, concern heavy on her face. "Randor? Is everything alright?"

"No. Duncan, what other news is there?"

"None good. Hordak has taken Adora captive."

"And he has the Jewel of Amara, too? Damn. Damn!"

Randor slammed his fist onto the arm of his chair, a noise thundering throughout the room. Marlena, startled by this, looked quickly to Man-At-Arms. He had the same expression a she did - deep, deep concern.

"Sire, we're ready to send in a retrieval team to help recover the Princess and the Jewel."

"Send as many forces as you can. Then, send word to my brother Stephan and sister Johanna. Inform them of the situation. Have Stratos and Buzz-Off remain here. I want King Paw here as well. This is a big problem. Bigger than you can imagine."

Man-At-Arms reluctantly shook his head. "Yes, of course, sire."

As he turned around and started out the door, Marlena turned to Randor. "Randor, what is it? What is going on?"

"I . . . I can not speak of it. Not right now. I need to go."

"Go? Go where?"

"Castle Grayskull. I must speak with the Sorceress. Immediately."

For the seventh consecutive hour, Adora struggled against the chains that held her against the bed. "I will not yield! Not again!"

Hordak frowned as the Shadow Weaver tried to recast the mental clouding spell onto Adora. He shook his head, and waved the magical mistress to his side. Adora heaved, finally able to rest for a moment. Shadow Weaver walked over to the Hordak and shook her head.

"She's grown too strong, Hordak. I can not break through her mental barriers. Re-implementing the mind-control spell is nearly impossible."

"Damnation," muttered Hordak, clenching his fists. "Mantenna?"

"No word on the Great Rebellion. There are rumors of an attack, but we haven't seen any indication of a move against us."

"Keep your eyes out, will you?" Hordak ordered, Mantenna shooting his eyes out. "Ha ha ha - snort!"

In the heart of the Whispering Woods, the newly arrived rescue team met with Queen Angella, Glimmer, Fluterina, and Bow. The team consisted of Ram Man, Teela, Moss Man, Clamp Champ, and Sy-Klone.

"We appreciate your help with this, He-Man. It's great the King has sent you to help us," Angella said with a welcoming smile.

"Yes. Wish he would do it more often," Glimmer whispered.

"What's that?" snapped Teela.

"It's just that we have been fighting this war for years with no help. But when his daughter is kidnapped, he sends his greatest warriors."

"Glimmer, that's enough!" Angella snapped at her daughter. "We all know He-Man and the king are both busy with their own problems. King Hiss, Skeletor. Both are just as strong as Hordak."

"It's alright, Angella," He-Man admitted. "She's right. We could stand to help a little more here on Etheria. Maybe that will change after this is all over."

That was when Bow smiled and stepped up. "I'm just trying to figure out where She-Ra went to. We could use her help."

"We do have her sword, Bow," Fluterina said, pulling out the Sword of Protection. "I spotted it after Adora was taken by the Horde Troopers."

He-Man took it from her. "We have to assume they injured She-Ra, forcing into hiding. We can't worry about her at the moment. Adora is our priority."

"I've been thinking about that," Queen Angella stated. "They're already set for us, so the chance for a surprise attack is futile. I suggest a hit and run."

He-Man grinned and looked back to his men. "Queen Angella," he said with a smile, "I couldn't have put it better myself."

A few hours later, as night fell upon Etheria, the Horde Troopers watched from the Doom Tower, armed to the teeth. The entire base was on high alert - trouble was expected at any moment.

"What do your processors say?" asked one Trooper to another.

"All quiet on the western front, unit 375. Boredom is corrupting my circuit boards."

As soon as unit 375 was about reply, an object smashed into them. Metal pieces joined with discarded armor and computer systems as Ram Man landed on them. The next turret spun and faced where Ram Man was, but a gust of wind threw the Horde Troopers off.

That was when Queen Angella flew in, holding her daughter. Glimmer started to unleash teleportation beams at the Horde Troopers. They were teleported immediately to the Growling Sea. It was hard for her to do this - and it put a lot of strain on her body, but she was willing.

As more Horde Trooper began to pour out Doom Tower, huge vines snaked from the long-dead ground, ensnaring them. Moss Man emerged from the dirt and began to expand the amount of vines coming up from the floor. They were starting to enclose the entire door . . . until Leech got to him.

Leech drained the energy from Moss Man, sending the heroic warrior to the floor. But just as he was about finish him off, the green-scaled Horde Elite member received a punch in the back of the head. He spun around and found that He-Man himself was assaulting him.

He-Man punched Leech in the stomach, then followed through with an uppercut. Just then, there was an explosion to his left. Exploding arrows were launching against Grizzlor. Bow strung another one and let it lose, sending the villain into retreat.

"I'll get Adora," He-Man announced, sending himself towards one of the windows.

Just as He-Man left, the heroes regrouped. Horde Troopers were pouring in, lasers armed and firing away. But they fought on - they fought an entire army. For a friend, they risked their lives. For a friend, they fought vile creatures. For a friend, they reassured themselves that she would do just that for them.

Then something strange happened. A portal had opened not far away, depositing Skeletor, Evil Lynn, Beast-Man, Clawful, and Whiplash.

"I want that Jewel!" shouted Skeletor. He lifted his staff, searching for its location. Then, he shot off towards the same window He-Man had entered into. "Take care of the rest!" he shouted as soon as he entered.

It had suddenly become a three-way war.

He-Man barreled through doors, smashed through guards, and came close to destroying the entire fortress as he searched for his sister. After a few minutes of frantic searching, he found her.

"Adora!" he yelled.

"He-Man? Is that you?"

"Yes," He-Man returned, looking around as he snapped her bounds. The room was empty, save the Jewel of Amara. He ignored it and handed the Sword of Protection to his twin sister. "Here. You might need this."

"Thank you, brother. FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL . . ." she chanted, the transformation over-coming her. ". . . I AM SHE-RA!"

She-Ra stood strong where Adora was stood weak. Just as she was about to reach for the Jewel of Amara, an energy beam from the doorway knocked her back. Hordak appeared and he grasped the Jewel of Amara.

"Where's the Princess?!" he demanded.

"She's safe - away from you!" He-Man replied strongly.

"No matter! I have the Jewel of Amara and that's good enough for me!" Hordak shot back. He held it up, preparing to fire a beam at He-Man . . . when a blast from Skeletor stopped him from unleashing its power.

"Put it down, Hordak!" Skeletor demanded.

"Never, fool!" Hordak hissed. He swiftly spun toward Skeletor, a beam of energy slicing out from the Jewel of Amara. It struck Skeletor in the chest and the great villain released a silent shriek as his body fell and started to convulse.

"What did you do to him?!" He-Man thundered, stepping forward.

"The same thing I'll be doing to you, silly barbarian!"

Once more, an energy beam shot from the Jewel of Amara. He-Man gasped, unable to catch his breath. He fell to the floor, seizing and shuddering.

Hordak smiled and looked up at She-Ra - who promptly kicked in him face. The leader of the Horde stumbled backwards, allowing She-Ra time to smash the wall. Debris crumbled and shattering, cutting the room into two. She turned herself back into Adora, pulled out a communicator.

"Is there anyone still out there?"

"Adora!?" wondered Glimmer. "Thank goodness you're still alive! What's happened?"

"No time for that. We need to get to Eternia immediately. Prepare for one patient - " she started, looking to He-Man, "- and one prisoner," she then finished, eyes falling to Skeletor.


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

The portal opened in the heart of Castle Grayskull and the two convulsing patients - Skeletor and He-Man - were both brought immediately to the Sorceress. Much to She-Ra's surprise, King Randor was there as well.

"What can you do?" asked She-Ra.

"Skeletor can not remain here. I can give him something for the time being, but it would most likely be best if he were taken back to Snake Mountain. The recovery will be slow, but that way he will not be able to gain an advantage here," Sorceress explained. "He-Man's cure is best given slowly and with great power."

She poured a strange, golden dust on Skeletor's convulsing body. It stopped immediately. "A short-lived remedy, but he will be weakened for a number of days. He-Man's healing needs more time and power."

"Right. Take Skeletor back to Snake Mountain," ordered She-Ra.

"No," Randor interrupted. "Take him to the Palace and shackle him."

The Sorceress stared in concern at the king.

"Sire?" asked She-Ra, taking note of the Sorceress' expression.

"There is a drastic need for him back at the Palace. She-Ra, I can assume Adora is still on Etheria? Safely, I hope?" Randor answered.

"Yes, sire," She-R returned.

"Good. Man-At-Arms said Adam is safely in hiding as well. Excellent. Yes, bring Skeletor back with us. She-Ra, if you'll remain here with He-Man until he recovers, then please return to the Palace with him? We need the two of you."

"Of course, sire."

Randor, Ram Man, Teela, Moss Man, Clamp Champ, and Sy-Klone shackled up the unconscious Skeletor, then left the enchanted fortress. She-Ra waited until the drawbridge came shut, then turned to the Sorceress. "What can I do to help?" she asked.

"Remain here as a beacon. He-Man's mind is lost in despair. The Jewel of Amara is very powerful, capable of doing great things . . ." she trailed off. "I will be entering his mind. This will be very difficult due to all the damage that the Jewel has inflicted. Please encourage him."

She-Ra took her brother's hand. "Come on, bro. We children of Randor have to stick together, remember?"

Deep within He-Man's mind, the hero saw Skeletor standing on a high and terrible peak. Lightning was gushing from his body, cracking against the very earth - creating canyons and deep gorges. Fire and lava spurned from the ground, blackening the sky.

Then Skeletor leapt up . . . and landed in front of Castle Grayskull. The Master of Destruction unleashed a beam that pulverized the entire fortress, leaving the dead, bloodied corpse of the Sorceress.

He then turned to Eternos and launched an army upon. Buildings were burned, people were executed slowly and painfully. He tried to block it all out, but it grew so hard . . . so hard . . .

"Adam!" came a female shout. He spun and found the Sorceress standing there, golden rays of light flowing from her. "It is difficult for me to contact you through this, so you must push through this madness and come back to reality!"

He-Man nodded slowly, then reached up for something that he couldn't see. He kept on reaching and felt layers of the illusion rip and peel off - becoming rotten and fading with time. His hand then grasped hold of something very familiar . . .

"She-Ra!" he yelled, coming awake in the shelter of Castle Grayskull.

"He-Man, thank the Ancients you're alive!" She-Ra gasped.

"I feel weak . . ." he moaned then, finding barely any energy to even stand up. "What did that thing do to me? I've never felt like this before."

The Sorceress took a deep breath and handed He-Man a glass of water. "The Jewel of Amara is a very dangerous weapon."

"What is it?" asked She-Ra. "Where did it come from?"

The Sorceress studied the pair, then slowly nodded. "When the Elders first came to power, they created a range of weapons for the royal family. Chief among these was the Jewel of Amara."

"What does it do?" asked He-Man. "I saw my worst fears come to life under its affects."

"Indeed. For any regular person to use it, it creates the personification of their worst fears and weaknesses. But if used by a member of the royal family, it can be a great and powerful weapon with nearly unlimited capabilities."

"Then that explains why Hordak captured and tried to brainwash me," She-Ra concluded. "He wanted me to use the Jewel of Amara."

"Yes," Sorceress answered. "You see, the Jewel of Amara was deemed to powerful and it was placed in safe-keeping beneath the Sands of Time. That is, until Skeletor discovered its location."

He-Man sat up, feeling stronger. "Why did Skeletor want it so badly? He's not part of the royal family. He can't use it the way that we can."

The Sorceress didn't answer for a long time, but then took a deep breath and shook her head. It was flatly obvious that she was holding something back from the pair, but she spoke before they could.

"There is no more time for questions. He-Man, you should be feeling stronger. You must both ride on to Eternos. I will teleport Swiftwind here for you, She-Ra. Good journey. And ride quickly."

Back at the Palace . . .

Skeletor's eyes opened slowly - and he was surprised at the people that stood before him. King Randor, Queen Johanna, and King Stephan.

"What is this?! What am I doing here?"

"You were attacked, Skeletor. The Jewel of Amara was used against you," Randor explained. "You broke the vow our father made us swear when he first told us of the Jewel."

"OUR father?!" yelled Skeletor. "I have no father, Randor! Not anymore! I'm not part of a silly little pact. Release me and maybe I'll let you live!" The villain struggled against the chains that bound him, but found that his strength was low and his body weak.

"This was a mistake," said Stephan, hand on his sword.

"No," Johanna replied. "No, this is right. Keldor, listen to me - "

Skeletor snarled. "That name means nothing to me, Johanna! Not anymore! I am not longer Keldor, I am Skeletor!"

She stepped closer to him, a compassionate look in her deep brown eyes. "I can't believe that there's not at least one shred of Keldor left in you."

"There isn't!"

"Then why did you try and find the Jewel of Amara?" demanded Stephan. "You knew that whatever royal blood still remained in your sick veins would allow you the full scope of the Jewel's power!"

"A weapon to be used, that is all it is to me!"

Randor snorted. "Weapon or not, it's now in the hands of Hordak. We can't let that happen. We must destroy the Jewel of Amara."

"That's impossible, Randor!" roared Skeletor, still straining against the chains. "It can not be destroyed!"

Stephan nodded his head. "According to the Sorceress, it can. But there is only one person that knows how exactly it can be done . . ."

"And just how on Eternia is that?" spat Skeletor.

"Skytree. We're heading out tonight to see him," returned Johanna.

Randor turned to Skeletor. "And you're coming with us, Skeletor."

***

He-man felt renewed and refreshed as he stepped from the magical energy that the Sorceress had bathed him in. Looking across the room He-man could see that Flipshot felt the same way.

"Wow!" said Flipshot. "I never thought I would feel this good ever again."

"The magic of Grayskull is a wonderful thing," said He-man. "But in the end if we don't get the Jewel of Amara away from Skeletor then I fear not even the power of Grayskull will keep Primus from falling."

"Then what do you propose we do?" asked Flipshot ready for action.

"We're going to Denebria." said He-man.

The mutant scout ship, that the Galactic Warriors had captured shot from the surface of Primus and headed towards the dreaded home world of the mutants.

"Are you sure we shouldn't have brought some of the others with us?" said Flipshot from his position at the flight controls.

"We can't risk it," said He-man. "Us two have already felt the efforts of the Jewel of Amara, its effects will then take a lesser toll on us than it would the others who have so far been fortunate enough to avoid that unpleasant experience. Plus if we go in with a smaller force, there's less chance of being spotted until we get to Skeletor's hiding place."

Flipshot nodded silently understanding He-man's explanation, though deep down in his heart he wished that at least a couple others had come along with them as he feared this mission wouldn't be as easy as it sounded.

Skeletor stared at the Jewel of Amara, silently developing a suitable surprise for Brakk when he came back from his raid on Primus.

__

'Soon Brakk,' thought Skeletor with evil glee. _'Soon I will truly show you the true power of this jewel!'_

With a sigh Skeletor got up from his seat and left his quarters. As Skeletor stalked the dark corridors of Brakk's underground base on Denebria he glanced over at the mutants that were under Brakk's command.

__

'Sometimes I wish I was back on Eternia,' thought Skeletor as he entered Brakk's main control room. _'My warriors may have been bumbling foolish oafs. But at least they were mine to command.'_

Within in the control room Skeletor saw, Quakke, Kalamarr, Staghorn and Sedusnor. "So Brakk left you behind as well?" grunted Staghorn as Skeletor sat in Brakk's command chair.

"I chose not to go." said Skeletor.

"More likely Brakk didn't want you to go along." laughed Quakke.

Skeletor glared at the mutant and smiled, he had taken a pledge to Brakk, that meant he had to follow him, at least until Skeletor decided it was time to snatch control from him, but that pledge didn't extend to the other mutants, slowly Skeletor reached in to a pocket on his belt and grabbed hold of the Jewel of Amara. Just as Skeletor was about to remove the jewel he felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"Why does it matter weather Skeletor goes with Brakk," purred the seductive voice of Sedusnor. "Or stays with us."

Skeletor turned to face the angelic but evil face of Sedusnor. Sedusnor's incredible powers to control the emotions of men were lost on Skeletor. Skeletor smiled and Sedusnor returned the smile. Suddenly Sedusnor was thrown through the air by a blast of magical energy shot out of his eyes. Sedusnor landed hard halfway across the room.

"Never lay your hand on me again." hissed Skeletor.

Sedusnor let out a small wicked smile as Staghorn and Quakke helped her to her feet. Skeletor stood and glared at the mutants in the room.

"Brakk may rule over you," said Skeletor. "But I do not have to do anything Brakk commands me to do."

"What do you have in mind?" asked Staghorn realizing that Skeletor was planning something.

"After Brakk's first attack on Primus," said Skeletor. "The Galactic Guardians will have no doubt sent a small team here to Denebria."

"Why would they do that?" asked Sedusnor. "Surely they will remain on Primus to defend the planet from Brakk's latest attack."

"Because I have this," said Skeletor as he held up the Jewel of Amara for the mutant's to see. "I offered this source of ultimate power to Brakk. But like always Brakk fouled it up. So I'm offering you the chance to follow me to power and glory."

As Skeletor looked around the room, he could tell by the smiles on the mutant's faces that his words had appealed to their lust for wealth and power, just as he intended it to. 

"What do you want us to do?" asked Kalamarr.

"No doubt He-man will have come to Denebria to try and gain possession of this jewel," said Skeletor. "So I need you to go out capture or destroy, I don't care which, He-man and any Galactic Guardian that has been foolish enough to step a foot on Denebria."

"At last!" cried out Staghorn. "We'll show Brakk that he should never have left us behind. We'll prove to all the mutants that we are the best."

The other mutants joined Staghorn in a celebrating cheer before leaving Skeletor alone in the control room. Once the mutants had gone out on their mission Skeletor sat at Brakk's main control station. Then Skeletor let out a evil, menacing laugh.

The first thing both He-man and Flipshot noticed as they stepped from their scout ship, was how decayed and rotten every surface of Denebria looked. The sight weighed heavily on He-man's heart as he thought about Eternia and how that what he saw everywhere was what would have happen to Eternia if Skeletor and his evil forces had gotten their way.

"Its a crime what has happened to this planet," said Flipshot as he pulled the hood of his cloak over his head. "It's hard to believe that Denebria used to be as pleasant as Primus."

"Hopefully once the Mutants have been driven from here," said He-man as he to covered his head with his cloaks hood. "We can look in to rebuilding Denebria. I'm sure with the incredible technology of Primus it could be done in no time."

"But first we have to rid ourselves of the Mutants. But I think that may be harder than we think," said Flipshot as they stepped out on to a huge street. The street was lined with buildings that looked half ruined; meanwhile the citizens of Denebria walked the street as if in a depressed state. "Do you even know where we start looking?"

The Mutant's battle tank roared throughout the streets of Denebria's main city Aros. Quakke laughed as the people of Aros dived out of the way to avoid being crushed under the merciless wheels of the tank.

"Are you sure that we are heading the right way?" purred Sedusnor.

"Of cause I'm sure," Kalamarr snapped back. "My information came from my spies in the swamps that surround this city."

"Well I hope we find them soon," said Staghorn rubbing his hands as if he was preparing for a fight. "Because I can't wait for another crack at He-man."

"Get in line," said Quakke from his position in the driving seat of the tank. "He-man is mine to crush with my might."

"I don't think so," hissed Kalamarr. "I'm going to drown him in the muck of the swamps."

"He-man belongs to me!" snapped Staghorn.

"I will crush He-man!" replied Quakke quickly.

"You'll have to wait behind me!" said Kalamarr.

Meanwhile Sedusnor sat watching the three mutants arguing over who would end up destroying He-man, and smiled, for she had her own plans for He-man.

__

'I will do more than destroy He-man,' thought Sedusnor. _'With my powers I will take away the one thing that is most important to him. His freedom. Once that is gone I shall make He-man my slave for eternity.'_

Back in Brakk's command base Skeletor silently watched the Mutants argue over who would end up destroying He-man, through one of the many spy cameras he had placed throughout many of Brakk's hide outs and vehicles. It was something that he had relied on his former master spy, Tri-Klops, many times on Eternia. As the Mutants continued about their mission, Skeletor turned back to what he was working on.

Sat on the table in the middle of the room was Skeletor's swing-blade, a deadly weapon he used with his Disks of Doom battle armour. Next to the swing-blade was the Jewel of Amara. Skeletor walked over to the table and picked up the jewel. The jewel instantly began to glow with light. Skeletor's eyes began to glow to match the pulsing glow of the jewel. Then once the glow from both the jewel and Skeletor's eyes seemed to fill every part of the room, Skeletor reached down and picked up the swing-blade. Skeletor then placed the Jewel of Amara on to the razor sharp blade of his weapon. The swing-blade started to glow and absorbing the energy of the jewel.

Once the swing-blade was full of the evil energy of the jewel, the glow in the room died down and the room returned to normal. Skeletor held up his new super powered weapon and smiled. Looking over his shoulder Skeletor saw that the Mutants were still arguing.

"No my foolish friends," hissed Skeletor. "It is I who shall destroy He-man. And once he is gone, I shall rid myself of Brakk and take both Denebria and Primus for myself. And then I shall return to Eternia and claim what is rightfully mine!"

Skeletor then let out a evil laugh that echoed throughout the entire base.


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Hordak walked along the large platform, then bowed before the swirling mass at the end. The mass flashed and thundered as Hordak bowed before his master - Horde Prime. "Master, I have recovered the Jewel of Amara. What is it you wish me to do with it?"

There was a rumble, then a voice that sounded like marble scrapping concrete. "Build an army . . . then go forth to Eternia and take what we lost."

Hordak nodded and stood up. "Yes, great Horde Prime."

Meanwhile, back on Eternia . . .

Skeletor gruffed to himself as he scanned Randor, Stephan and Johanna. They, who had betrayed him so many years ago, dragged him along towards a meeting with Skytree. Skeletor was angry - possibly angrier than he had ever been. His continually reached towards his power, only to find that it wasn't there. The Jewel of Amara had such a profound affect on him - accompanied by whatever spells the accursed Sorceress had placed on him.

The sun was setting and moonrise would be soon. Maybe then, his powers would start to return to him. Darkness always fueled him - 

"Skeletor," whispered Johanna. He looked up and saw her staring at him. There was something in her eyes, something he had not seen since those days many years ago.

"What do you want?"

She stared at him curiously, as though her eyes were probing deep into his soul. "Are you okay?"

He grunted harshly. "Fine."

There was a quick snort from the other side of the Attack Track. Skeletor and Johanna both looked at the source. Stephan was toying with his sword, and glared at Skeletor suspiciously.

"What do you want?" hissed Skeletor.

Stephan stood up, and holding his sword upright. "You were always one of long-winded speeches and boastings. But the ever since you left Eternos, you've been quiet. What's on your mind . . . Keldor?"

Skeletor suddenly snapped to attention, straining at his bounds. "DO NOT CALL ME THAT!"

"Ha ha ha!" laughed Stephan. "Look at you, Keldor, so powerless it's driving you mad!"

"THAT IS NOT MY NAME!"

"But it is your name," came Johanna's voice, her eyes searching within him still. "It is the name that mother and father gave to you. It is the name you were born with. No matter what happens to you, you'll still be Keldor to - "

"NEVER!" yelled Skeletor. "Know this, I am not the man who was your brother! I am Skeletor! Keldor died the moment THIS happened!" he snapped, lifting up his face. The rising moonlight shined off his yellow skull. "And you will all pay for what your betrayal!"

Randor put the controls on automatic, then turned back to Skeletor. "Let's keep one thing straight," he started, "you were the one that betrayed us."

Skeletor snorted. "Watch your backs! All of you! I will kill you all!" Skeletor muscles tensed and his hands turned to fists. With all his might, he reached for his missing magic, still finding it depleted. Anger filled his body, making him want to kill everyone right now.

A gentle hand fell onto his shoulder. "Keldor . . . Skeletor . . . whatever you wish to be called . . . we want to help you. And if you help us destroy want our forefathers created, we will."

"NO! I do not want your help! Never!"

Johanna closed her eyes, then reopened them and looked to her two older brothers. She then looked back at Skeletor. "You're still our brother. No matter what."

For a mere fraction of a second, there was glimmer in the darkness of Skeletor's eyes. His expression changed, and Keldor seemed to reemerge. But as soon as it appeared, it was snapped away.

"How kind of you to say," Skeletor mocked. "If not foolhardy. The Jewel of Amara can not be destroyed. It was created to serve the royal family and it will serve me. When I escape I shall use it to conquer all of Eternia."

The others sighed deeply, then strode away. Skeletor felt something in the pit of his stomach that told him just how transparent his threat had been.

Back at Eternos . . .

She-Ra and He-Man ran into the Throne Room, followed by Queen Angella and Man-At-Arms. "Queen Marlena, we have a problem," He-Man said.

"Hordaks forces are building. He's planning an invasion of Eternia."

Marlena stood up, shocked by this news. "I thought the Horde ceased their attacks on Eternia."

"With the Jewel of Amara, Hordak is feeling much more confident," Man-At-Arms explained. "As the ruling member of the Eternos, it is your word we must follow."

Marlena nodded. "Prepare the troops. Queen Angella, I respectfully ask - "

Angella raised her hand and smiled. "Members of the Great Rebellion will help you. Our experience in fighting with the Horde will be invaluable."

"Thank you."

Meanwhile, finally, the Attack Track stopped in the middle of a huge forest, and Randor, Stephan, Johanna, and a shackled Skeletor, all stepped out. The moon had completely risen, casting a blue light through the canopy of the forest. White pedals rained around them and even Skeletor felt awed by such a wonderous sight.

"You have come so far . . ." a voice came. It was deep and creaked throughout the forest. The sound of tree limbs lurching in the wind filled the air.

"Skytree," addressed Randor. Before him, a large oak had seemingly come to life, speaking with a mouth and looking with two eyes. Randor bowed, as did Stephan and Johanna. Skeletor, though, continued to stand.

"You do not bow before the oldest creature on all of Eternia?" questioned Skytree. "I must respect that, son of Miro."

"I am no longer a son of Miro," Skeletor retorted. He could hear the others tense up. "I am darkness. I am Skeletor."

Skytree made a noise that sounded almost like a laugh. "Indeed you are. But you can not destroy the blood runs through you. It is why you sought the Jewel of Amara, is it not? Stand, please, all of you."

"Thank you, Skytree," Randor said, eyes glancing at Skeletor.

"Forgive us for our brother," Johanna said.

"The children of Miro. Your ancestors went to the Council of Elders and asked them to create great weapons to keep the forces of evil at bay. The Jewel of Amara was chief among them. But Gray, the man who would become He-Ro, banished the Jewel when he realized its great destructive power. He knew that no man, in his lineage or not, should use this great weapon.

"And yet . . . Keldor has. Despite his very roots, Keldor - or Skeletor, as he is called - betrayed that which Gray enforced many years ago. And yet, Randor, honoring his roots, comes to fix the mistakes that Keldor has. The children of Miro honor their roots.

"As," he started, then adding a small chuckle, "do I. The Council of Elders feared that this may occur and prepared for it. Only the combined power of Castle Grayskull and an heir to the lineage of Gray and the royal family can destroy the Jewel of Amara."

Randor sighed and nodded.

Eternos was a buzz with activity. Teela had placed all guards along the walls, all civilians were being held in emergency shelters, which were heavily guarded. Heroic Warriors and Great Rebellion members were readying themselves for a battle of which Eternia had not seen in a long time.

"Where is father?" He-Man asked She-Ra as they stood alone in front of the gates of Eternos.

"I more curious as to why he took Skeletor with him. Our aunt and uncle makes sense, but why Skeletor?"

Just then, the voice of Man-At-Arms broke their conversation. "Your majesty, with all due respect, you can not do this!"

Queen Marlena appeared then, with Man-At-Arms in quick tow. She-Ra and He-Man exchanged looks, realizing that she had traded her beautiful dress for that of a warrior. "I can and I will," she said. "I am the Queen and I will fight with my people. And the last time Hordak attacked Eternos, he hurt me more deeply than I ever thought possible. I will fight, Man-At-Arms. So says the queen."

Man-At-Arms nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes, of course, your majesty."

"Thank you," Marlena responded. She glanced at He-Man and She-Ra, then back to Man-At-Arms. "Have you spoken to my children?"

Man-At-Arms withheld looking at She-Ra and He-Man. "Yes. They're protected."

"Good. If we fall here, they will be are only chance."

Suddenly, there was a sound like thunder, and flashes of golden light nearly a mile away. Large portals opened, and Horde Troopers marched out. Leading them was Hordak, riding on his Mantisaur, with the Jewel of Amara dangling around his neck.

He-Man and She-Ra looked at each other, then back to the Queen Marlena and Man-At-Arms. "Prepare for battle," was all the queen said.

Thunderous horns roared, and the soldiers prepared their weapons. The Heroic Warriors and the Great Rebellion stood up, ready for what was coming. The sound of mechanical boots came crashing down on the soil, all lead by Hordak.

He-Man and She-Ra hopped onto their respective rides - Battle Cat and Swift Wind - and turned to the heroes behind them.

"Be fast and ready," She-Ra advised. "Horde Troopers are expecting a frontal assault. If we divide and conquer, we'll be able to catch them off guard. As soon as we strike through Hordak and his elite, push through the center lines. Aim for the heart of the army. All soldiers will follow through then, moving around and into the Troopers."

"Whatever happens, do your best to stay out of the effects of the Jewel of Amara. Trust me, it's not pleasant," He-Man continued. "She-Ra and I will keep Hordak distracted. The rest of you, work on the Horde elite and push into the center. Don't stop moving, no matter what."

Teela looked to He-Man then. "Are you ready?"  
"Yes. Open the gates!"

The gates of Eternos opened up and He-Man and She-Ra lead the contingent of Heroic Warriors and Great Rebellion down towards the Horde Army before them. Just as the pair were about to clash, there was a sudden blast from the sky.

Hordak and He-Man looked over to see King Hiss and Evil Lynn leading the Evil Warriors and the Snake Men towards Hordak and his Horde Elite.

"The Jewel of Amara belongs to Skeletor!" shouted King Hiss, immediately clashing with Hordak.

"FORWARD!" shouted He-Man. He was shocked at King Hiss's sudden loyalty, but didn't have time to dwell on it. Neither of them deserved to have the Jewel of Amara.

The battle was joined immediately. Grizzlor and Beast-Man snarled at each other, then lashed out, ripping and biting at the other. Bow fired his arrows at Tri-Klops only to have them blasted away be his eye beams. Leech began to suck off Ssqueeze's energy. Manteena fell to Ram Man's head-bunt. Evil Lynn blasted away Catra.

As the conflict continued, He-Man spotted Randor, Stephan, Johanna, and Skeletor rushing towards him. "He-Man, only the lineage of the royal family and the power of Grayskull can destroy the Jewel of Amara. Since you posses the power of Grayskull and I - "

"- and you are the king," He-Man continued for him. "We can do it, but give me a moment."

King Hiss had managed to get Hordak off of the Mantisaur and the two were engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Hordak was just about to use the Jewel of Amara on first ruler of Snake Mountain - when He-Man punched him suddenly in the face. King Hiss was shocked, but even moreso when She-Ra kicked him in the stomach.

His hands formed into snakes, which snapped and hissed at She-Ra. She leapt back, and his snakes snapped once more, stretching out towards her. She-Ra glanced quickly at He-Man, who was keeping Hordak distracted long enough not to use the Jewel of Amara.

"He-Man!"

He-Man glanced over and nodded. Hordak took the moment to use the Jewel of Amara. Just as he did, King Hiss lurched once more towards She-Ra. The pair - He-Man and She-Ra - leapt out of the way. The Jewel of Amara fired at King Hiss right as the snakes dug into Hodark's shoulders.

King Hiss fell to the ground, his worst fears taking over his mind. Hordak fell as well, poison filling his body. But the leader of the Horde pushed himself up, and reached for the Jewel of Amara.

But before his fingers could grasp around the crystal, a foot connected with his face. Skeletor stood there, and reached for the Jewel of Amara.

Randor slammed into him, throwing Skeletor away from the Jewel. He-Man rushed over and picked up the Jewel. He was about to slam the Sword of Power into it, when he felt a sharp burning sensation in his ankle. He looked down to see King Hiss. The snake man had somehow found a way through the dark nightmares to strike at He-Man.

She-Ra smashed her fists against him, then headed towards He-Man's fallen form and the Jewel. But right when she did, a beam from Hordak knocked down next to her brother. Hordak pulled himself up, thanks to the Shadow Weaver.

Skeletor pushed Randor away from him and managed towards the Jewel of Amara. He picked it up and cradled in his arms. Randor pulled out his sword and kept at Skeletor's throat.

"I don't want to kill you," he said. A pang of remorse came through him. This man was his brother, but he couldn't risk the destruction Keldor - Skeletor - might do with it.

"If I can not have the Jewel of Amara," Skeletor spoke, "then I will use its power to destroy itself!"

"That's impossible, Skeletor. Only the - "

But Randor's voice seemed lost as the Jewel of Amara began to glow brilliantly. His sword dropped as energy began to pulsate within the crystal and it seemed to implode. With a flash of power and a thunderous crack, the Jewel of Amara completely vanished - destroyed by Skeletor's own hands.

For a moment, there was stunned silence. Hordak gathered himself up and looked upon his army and saw that it had suffered great devastation. "Your orders?" asked Shadow Weaver.

"Get us back to the Fright Zone before this poison gets the best of me. Signal a retreat."

Great portals suddenly opened up and the Horde Troopers rushed through them. Skeletor, likewise, turned to Evil Lynn.

"Grab King Hiss and let's get out of here!" he shouted, rushing off.

Randor and his siblings made no effort to go after the man that had been their brother.

A few days passed and He-Man made a full recovery from King Hiss's poison. Adam and Adora decided to join their mother and father before Adora left for Etheria. The four were in the courtyard, bright springtime flowers in bloom and the warmth of the sun shining down on them.

"Our family is very important to us," Randor said to them. "We must never forget where we come from. The strength of who we are is determine by those who came before us. The ones that forged the way and whose roots we have grown from."

He looked at his two children. "Never forget that. And never forget how proud I am of you."

Randor, Marlena, Adam and Adora all hugged. But even in such a loving embrace, Randor's mind reached out to his long lost brother, wishing that his father had said that to Keldor . . . 

King Hiss joined Skeletor in his throne room. Skeletor had kept to himself since the battle, and barely said a word to anyone. "You're up to something, Skeletor," King Hiss accused immediately.

"I am not," Skeletor answered.

King Hiss looked at his partner in evil slyly. "You've changed, Skeletor. You acknowledged a part of your life that you abandoned and looked at with scorn so that you could access the powers of the Jewel of Amara. But when you finally had the Jewel of Amara, you destroyed it. Why is that, hmmm? Could it be that opening that part of your life brought out long locked away feelings that you hadn't counted on?"

Skeletor looked up at King Hiss. "Don't make me laugh, King Hiss."

"You didn't destroy the Jewel of Amara, did you?"

The master of Snake Mountain reached into his belt and retrieved the Jewel of Amara. "Something I plan on saving for a rainy day, King Hiss."

"They'll be suspicious, you know. Only the combination of a royal family member and the power of Grayskull can destroy it. It's only a matter of time before the Sorceress or Skytree finds out it's still around."

Skeletor chuckled, then grinned at King Hiss. "Why, King Hiss, I have all the time in the world . . ."


	8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

"This is growing tiresome," complained Sedusnor as she watched the mutants scattering out of the way to avoid being struck, or worse by the battle tank. "We've been out here for hours on this wild bird chase."

"I'll bet that the reports of He-man being here are on Denebria are about as good as drackian swamp bats." hissed Staghorn.

Kalamarr turned to face Staghorn.

"I'll have you know," hissed Kalamarr as if he was insulated by the comment. "That my informants are never wrong."

The other Mutants made a sound of disbelief.

"They saw a ship land and two Primans exit," said Kalamarr trying to prove that his informants were as good as he had made them out to be. "And one of them must have been He-man. Just like Skeletor said."

"Well we're getting no closer to finding them," said Staghorn. "Finding them in this city is like hunting vol-bugs in Kalamarr's swamps."

"The best way to capture anything," said Sedusnor making her way to the front of the battle tank. "Is to flush them out."

"What do you have in mind, Sedusnor?" asked Kalamarr.

"Appeal to their basic nature." replied Sedusnor. Before any of the confused Mutants could question her more, Sedusnor hit the weapons control of the battle tank.

No matter how hard he tried, Flipshot couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling depression that seemed to seep from every fiber of the Denebrian city and its inhabitants.

"This place is really giving me the creeps," said Flipshot lowering his voice as he and He-man passed a small group of mutants who by the look of things hadn't been fed in a long time. "I hope we find Skeletor soon."

"We will," replied He-man. "It is only a matter of time before......."'

He-man's words were cut off by the sudden sounds of weapons fire, closely followed by screams of several mutants.

"What in the name of Primus is happening?" asked Flipshot as the mutants around them started to flee in panic.

"It looks like we've got a welcoming party," said He-man reaching for his sword. "And one that only the Mutants would throw for us."

He-man quickly threw off his cape and hood while Flipshot pressed a button on his wrist-guard. Instantly the flight-pack on his back morphed in to life, its silver wings ripped through Flipshot's cape and locked in to place while with sound of gears turning, Flipshot's battle helmet rose out of his battle armor and formed over his head. The instant the helmet locked tight the battle computer came on-line.

Around them the mutants who hadn't fled stared at He-man and Flipshot, trying to decide whether what was happening was a Priman attack. Slowly the looks of awe and surprise started to turn to hatred. A large mutant stepped from the crowd and scooped up a handful of rocks from the cracked ground. With a hiss of plasma energy Flipshot flew in to the air, He-man raised his sword, which was glowing with magical energy.

"Somehow I don't think we're welcome." said Flipshot from his advantage point in the air.

"It's not their fault," said He-man. "They've been brought up to hate and despise what the people of Primus stand for. They have learned no other way. The prejudice of the Mutants is poisoning every citizen of Denebria, as surely as their industry destroyed what had once been a beautiful planet."

Suddenly the large mutant let out a snarl of pure rage and hurled the rocks at He-man. Using his incredible speed He-man swung his sword up and deflected the rocks away. Spurned on by the large mutant's actions the others that had remained behind began to search for weapons to attack He-man and Flipshot.

The large mutant scooped up another handful of debris from the ground and readied to throw it. He-man instinctively reached for the controls on his left wrist-guard, that would activated his energy shield. The mutant saw what He-man was attempting to do and threw the debris. Suddenly the mutant let out a cry of pain and vanished in a crimson glow. He-man instantly recognized it as the effects of a disrupter or phased energy blast. As the other mutants ran Flipshot came to land next to He-man.

"Did you see where that blast came from?" asked He-man.

Flipshot shook his head.

"I couldn't see much," said Flipshot. "I was keeping a close eye on a group of mutants who had gotten on to the roof of the building across the street."

Then out of nowhere there came a rumbling sound, He-man and Flipshot turn and narrowly avoided being struck by another beam of energy.

Skeletor watched from Brakk's command seat on the spy camera he had placed in the battle tank. On the screen he saw, as he expected he would, He-man and the Galactic Guardian known as Flipshot. The Mutants mindless attacks had done what they were designed to do, they drew He-man out in to the open. Skeletor knew in the back of his mind that even outnumbered, He-man and Flipshot were more than a match for the bumbling fools he had sent after them.

__

'In the end it will not matter.' thought Skeletor glancing over to the deadly swing-blade that was infused with the power of the Jewel of Amara. Skeletor reached out and picked up the weapon. Skeletor smiled as he felt the power of the jewel inside, then he turned back to the screen to watch as He-man and Flipshot battled with the Mutants he had sent after them.

The hatch on the top of the battle tank hissed and popped open. One by one the Mutants climbed out each looking at He-man and Flipshot with murderous intentions in mind.

"Weeeell look who we have here," drawled Quakke as he lifted the heavy chunk of meteor from the harness on his back. "Skeletor was right. Two Priman worms are here on our world."

"What do you think we should do with them?" sneered Staghorn as he followed Kalamarr out of the tank.

"Give them to me," purred Sedusnor, gracefully climbing out of the battle tank. "I have so many ways in which I can make pleasure seem like the worse torture."

Unable to control himself, He-man shivered as his eyes locked on to the deep exotic red eyes of Sedusnor.

__

'How can something so beautiful be so cruel?' He-man thought as he shook off the hypnotic effect her eyes had on him.

"Playing with them isn't the answer," said Kalamarr. "I say destroy them."

Every Mutant seemed to agree with Kalamarr's statement and instantly raised their weapons and aimed them at He-man and Flipshot.

Quakke was the first to attack; with a mighty swing Quakke slammed his meteor-like weapon in to the ground. Instantly shockwaves formed causing everything caught up in them to tremor and shake, including He-man and Flipshot. As He-man bravely tried to withstand the effects of the shockwaves, Flipshot activated his jet-pack and took off for the skies. Kalamarr instantly aimed his blaster at Flipshot and pressed the trigger. A jet of superheated swamp acid shot out and almost hit Flipshot.

"That was too close," said Flipshot as he saw the swamp acid melt away the stone surface of the building behind him. "But two can play at that game. Try some coolant on for size."

Flipshot then aimed his wrist-mounted cannon at Kalamarr, a beam of ice blue coolant energy shot out. Kalamarr leapt out of the way and the beam struck the surface of the metal surface of the battle tank, turning it in to a sheet of ice. Staghorn shook his head in disbelief at Kalamarr's attempt to fight the Galactic Guardian.

"You may be able to handle ol' Slush Head over there," hissed Staghorn as he slipped his battle shield/ artillery array over his head. "But Staghorn ain't no one trick wonder."

Staghorn's battle shield/ artillery array then started to crackle and hum with energy, then as the weapon began to glow a bright blue Staghorn snapped his head up, the battle shield/ artillery array swung up and a wave of blue electric energy shot out towards Flipshot.

Sedusnor silent hung back and watched as He-man battled with Quakke. Quakke swung his meteor towards He-man, He-man barely had time to move and the meteor struck He-man a glancing blow. He-man was thrown off his feet and crashed in to the side of a nearby building. The impact shook the building down to its unstable foundations. Stunned He-man could tell that the building couldn't survive a second impact. Pushing himself off the ground He-man watched as Quakke readied to swing his meteor again. Summoning as much strength as he could, He-man forced himself to start running towards Quakke. Quakke saw He-man coming and smiled, and then he realized that He-man was moving too fast and his meteor would have no chance of striking him down. But he was unable to stop the swing and his defenses we down when He-man drove a massive shoulder in to his guts. The air was driven out of Quakke's lungs from the blow and he let go of the cable that held on to the meteor. He-man quickly snatched the cable from the ground. He-man could barely lift the cable off the ground.

__

'This thing almost weighs as much as the entire Starship Eternia!' thought He-man as he struggled with the cable.

Quakke had caught his breath was now standing behind He-man, watching and laughing as the hero of Primus tried to lift the cable and the meteor.

"No one but me can lift that meteor," laughed Quakke. "Try as much as you want. That meteor only moves for me and me alone. It is like we are a part of each other, me and the meteor, one incredible force of nature!"

"Well," He-man said through gritted teeth, his muscles were screaming in pain as He-man continued to struggle with the incredible weight of Quakke's meteor. All the time he could hear Quakke's voice mocking him. Suddenly He-man felt the meteor give a little, then with a small smile on his face He-man continued what he was saying. "If you two are so connected then you two should stick together!"

Then with the sound of the ground giving away He-man snapped the cable and sent the meteor sailing through the air. Quakke stared amazed, unable to move as the meteor hurtled its way towards him. Then the meteor hit and Quakke was driven in to the ground, buried under his own weapon. He-man barely had enough time to catch his breath when he was struck by the metal arms of Kalamarr.

Flipshot dived and the energy wave passed inches above his head. Staghorn let out a curse and lowered his battle shield/ artillery array over his head once more and prepared to fire another shot at Flipshot. Flipshot saw what Staghorn was attempting, quickly Flipshot entered in to a dive. Staghorn once again threw his head back and fired another energy wave at the on coming warrior. With one blinding movement Flipshot rolled out of the way, the energy wave grazing the armored surface of his right wing. 

"Surely you are a better shot than that." laughed Flipshot.

Staghorn only flashed Flipshot an evil grin, and Flipshot then realized that the mutant wasn't aiming for him, but at something behind. Flipshot span around to see the energy wave strike a tower of some kind that sat on top of a building behind him. The tower's legs were destroyed by the energy wave and topped off the building's roof towards Flipshot. Flipshot tried dodging to the right when an alarm inside his helmet called for his attention. Accessing the read-out Flipshot saw that the energy wave had done more damage than he had first thought. The wing's mechanisms were frozen, leaving Flipshot unable to move fast enough to avoid being struck by the tower.

The metal arms of Kalamarr wrapped themselves around He-man's body and started trying to squeeze the life out of him. As He-man fought with his arms, Kalamarr raised his swamp-blaster and took aim.

"I've waited a very long time for this," hissed Kalamarr. "With your death at my hands I shall be powerful enough to rule the Mutants. Then I shall turn this planet in to one big swamp, and then I shall do the same to Primus."

"You know what," said He-man. "You sure like to dream a lot."

Then with one incredible move, He-man pulled on the metal arms of Kalamarr and yanked the mutant off his feet. Kalamarr let out a startled cry and dropped his blaster as he flew through the air, towards the huge fist of He-man.

Sedusnor watched as the impact from He-man's fist sent Kalamarr crashing in to a nearby building. She then turned to watch the battle between Flipshot and Staghorn.

Try as he might, the one good engine in Flipshot's flight pack wasn't strong enough to get him away from the falling tower. Suddenly another blast of energy exploded beside him. Staghorn's irritating laughter continued to echo through the air. 

As the blue bursts of energy from Staghorn's weapon continued to explode all around him, Flipshot struggled to get his jet pack to turn. Looking over his shoulder he saw that the tower was rapidly gaining on him. The jet pack suddenly spluttered and the good engine overheated and died. Now in free-fall, Flipshot had little choice but to fall. Then an idea formed inside his head as he saw a torn and tattered canopy hanging off a nearby building. Below, Staghorn continued to blast away at the falling Flipshot. He saw the tower's rapid decent and laughed even harder as he imagined Flipshot's fate. Suddenly his eyes grew wide with horror as he watched Flipshot.

The tower was continuing to speed its way towards Flipshot. Still unable to move out of the way Flipshot set his plan in action. Flipshot quickly set his jet pack on overload and pressed the ejector button. Instantly Flipshot was thrown clear of the jet pack, then just as the canopy was out of reach the jet pack exploded. The shockwave from the explosion pushed Flipshot closer to his goal while forcing the tower to change its direction, the change but it was enough for the tower to miss the falling Flipshot. Flipshot's arm lashed out and grabbed hold of the canopy, the canopy ripped under Flipshot's weight and swung him towards the wall. Quickly Flipshot raised his legs and when his feet touched the wall, Flipshot pushed off the wall and used his momentum to land on the ground safely. The moment he had hit the ground Flipshot heard the thundering sound of the tower hitting the ground. Turning Flipshot saw that among the tangled mess of the tower was Staghorn. The Mutant wasn't harmed but he was trapped. Smiling Flipshot turned and was suddenly struck by the boot of Sedusnor.

Sedusnor had carefully crept away as He-man finished of Kalamarr. She saw Flipshot and the trapped Staghorn screaming from his prison under the fallen tower. Sedusnor ignored her fellow mutant's cries and turned preparing to escape this futile situation, and bumped in to the massive chest of He-man. Sedusnor quickly backed away and stared in to He-man's blue eyes with her deep purple colored eyes.

"Oh my," purred Sedusnor in her best seductive voice. "I had never thought you would be so handsome in person."

He-man felt a slight fuzzy feeling inside his body. Instantly he recognized it as Sedusnor trying to use her powers to force him to lower his defenses. He-man slowly lowered his sword and Sedusnor steadily closer, her beautiful smile growing brighter with each step. Slowly Sedusnor raised a hand and placed it on He-man's chest.

"I knew even the mighty He-man couldn't resist my seductive ways," purred Sedusnor as she tightened her hand on He-man's chest almost hard enough to draw blood. "Now my servant of passion, destroy your ally Flipshot."

He-man looked down at Sedusnor and smiled.

"I'm afraid not," said He-man. "My heart belongs to another, and not for the likes as corrupt as you."

Sedusnor's eyes suddenly lost their look of seduction and were replaced with pure fury and hatred.

"This is impossible!!!" screamed Sedusnor as she raised her hands to strike. "No living creature resists the power of Sedusnor and survives!!"

Sedusnor's hands then flew towards He-man. He-man noticed that her fingers had now grown in to razor sharp talons. With blinding speed He-man grabbed Sedusnor's hands just inches from his chest. Sedusnor struggled and spat at He-man like a wild animal, but she was no match for He-man's mighty grip.

"Calm down!" He-man said to the hysterical Sedusnor. "I don't want to have to hurt you!"

Sedusnor ignored He-man's warnings and continued in her raging attempt to break his grip.

"I shall have your heart!!" screamed Sedusnor. "Even if I have to rip it from your chest!!"

As Sedusnor franticly thrashed about in his grip, He-man feared that she may do some serious damage to herself. So with a move that Teela had taught him many years before, He-man let go of Sedusnor. Sedusnor span around as the momentum of her wild swing un-balanced her. He-man quickly grabbed her once more, wrapping his arms around her so that her arms were pinned to her sides.

"Will you please calm down." said He-man as Sedusnor continued to free herself by trying to kick or head butt him. Seeing no choice He-man quickly let go of Sedusnor once more, this time before Sedusnor could flinch a muscle He-man had raised his had and struck her at the base of her neck. Sedusnor's purple eyes rolled back in to her head and she slowly slumped to the floor.

Flipshot made his way over to He-man as he was just finishing binding Sedusnor to a nearby post with a large metal rod that he had pulled from the rubble on the street.

"It looks like we've found ourselves a lift to find Skeletor." said Flipshot.

"I've never been one to look a gift Dreyhorse in the mouth," said He-man with a small smile. "This should make finding Skeletor a lot easier. Though I somehow think Skeletor has planned this all along. I suspect he'll have a few surprises waiting for us when we reach him."

Skeletor sat silently watching as He-man and Flipshot boarded the battle tank.

"Indeed I shall have wonderful surprises waiting for you," laughed Skeletor slowly stroking the deadly glowing Sling-Blade. "Oh yes they will certainly be wonderful, however I feel you shall not feel the same way."

Skeletor then let out an evil laugh that echoed throughout the empty corridors of Brakk's hide-out.

The battle tank slowly rumbled along the ruined streets until it finally reached the entrance to Brakk's command base.

"It's hard to tell this place apart from the rest of these wrecks of buildings." said Flipshot as he searched for any possible entrance to Brakk's stronghold.

"It wouldn't be wise for the Mutants to leave their base of operations open for anyone to find." said He-man with a smile. 

"Except those who have stolen an access pass," said Flipshot returning the smile. "All we have to do is work out a way to activate it so we can get inside."

As He-man and Flipshot searched the battle tank's control panels for the control for the hidden entrance, a slow rumbling sound began to sound. Looking up both He-man and Flipshot watched as a large section of the decayed and rotten building lifted off the ground to reveal a corridor made of high-tec materials behind.

"Well that wasn't hard was it?" said Flipshot.

"No it was a little too easy," replied He-man. "I think it goes without saying, we should be extremely careful."

"Indeed you do," said Skeletor's voice suddenly bursting from the battle tank's communications speakers. "However that is only until you reach me. Then I shall enjoy finally ending your miserable existence once and for all."

The screen then went blank.

"Well that was unexpected," said Flipshot turning to He-man. "What do we do now?"

Suddenly the hatches on the battle tank slammed shut with the hissing of the locks snapping closed.

"I think Skeletor wants us to wait here." said He-man.

Then without warning the battle tank began to roll down the corridor.

"I don't think staying here is part of Skeletor's plan." said Flipshot.

Skeletor stalked the control room of Brakk's base of operations, cradled in his arms was the swing-blade its surface glowing faintly with the power of the Jewel of Amara. Skeletor stopped by a bank of monitors that sat on the control station in the center of the room. Each monitor showed the battle tank as it made its way through the base carrying He-man and Flipshot trapped inside.

Finally the battle tank stopped, with a hiss of air the hatch popped open. Flipshot was the first to start for the hatch but He-man held him back.

"This could be a trap," said He-man. "Skeletor is capable of any treachery."

He-man then raised his power sword and held the glowing blade outside of the hatch. A bolt of energy ran from the hilt of the sword, through its glowing blade then as it reached the tip of the blade it burst in to the corridor outside the battle tank in a shower of bright electrical sparks. The sparks raced along every surface of the corridor. Once the energy had faded both He-man and Flipshot stepped out of the battle tank. Littered all around were the electronically booby-traps that were destroyed by the power of He-man's sword.

"You didn't think Skeletor would make it easy for us?" said He-man as he saw the look of bewilderment on Flipshot's face.

"It had crossed my mind." shrugged Flipshot.

Suddenly a rumbling sound echoed throughout the corridor. He-man and Flipshot turned to see a large security door open to reveal the dark interior of Brakk's command center. Within in the darkness neither He-man nor Flipshot could see a thing, and then with out warning two points of light appeared in the darkened room. He-man instantly recognized the lights as being the evil glowing red eyes of Skeletor.

"I'm pleased that you survived my little surprise," hissed Skeletor from the darkness. "Though it wasn't exactly something that would tax even your limited intelligence."

"You wanted us here Skeletor," said He-man reading his power sword for battle. "So we're here. Hand over the Jewel of Amara."

"I have every intention of giving you the jewel," said Skeletor. "In fact it is the only way our eternal conflict can surely end."

"What are you talking about?" asked He-man.

"You have stood in my way for too long," said Skeletor his eyes glowing brighter with every word he spat out. "You have thwarted my attempts at attaining the power of Grayskull, even when I was empowered with the power of the Gods you stood in my way! But I have finally found the power to rid myself of you forever!"

Skeletor then stepped in to the light holding the glowing Jewel of Amara in his hand. Instinctively Flipshot backed away not wanting to be subjected to the power of the jewel a second time. But He-man stood his ground.

"You know as well as I that every time you use the jewel's power on the same subject, its effect is weakened," said He-man. "I've survived the jewel twice. A third time will mean nothing."

A small dark smile crept over Skeletor's face.

"I don't intend to use the jewel to attack your souls," hissed Skeletor. "I intend to use the power of the jewel to destroy your bodies!"

It was then that He-man noticed that Skeletor's right arm was hidden behind his back. Suddenly Skeletor's right arm snapped forward, on the end clamped to Skeletor's wrist was the deadly swing-blade, the weapon Skeletor used in his Disks of Doom armor. A razor disk sat at the tip of the swing-blade. As Skeletor whipped back the swing-blade, the razor disk shot through the air. The razor disk didn't make a sound as it cut its way towards He-man and Flipshot; He-man could see a faint trail of red energy coming from behind the razor disk. With lightning like speed He-man grabbed hold of Flipshot and pulled him out of the way as the razor disk flew past and plunged in to the armored hull of the battle tank. There wasn't a sound as the razor disk sliced through the battle tank and out the other side. He-man and Flipshot quickly leapt to their feet and dived out of the way as the razor disk arched around and headed back towards Skeletor. Skeletor easily caught the razor disk with the swing-blade. Skeletor's eyes glowed with bright red energy as he raised the swing-blade once again.

Flipshot roll away from the battle tank as it collapsed in to a smoking ruin. Quickly rising his right arm Flipshot pressed a button in the palm of his hand and instantly a wrist mounted rocket launcher morphed in to place. Using a mental command Flipshot launched two stun missiles towards Skeletor.

Skeletor quickly leapt back in to the darkness of the control room. The two missiles exploded in the room and briefly chased the darkness away.

"I don't believe it! He got away!" said Flipshot as the flash of the explosion revealed no sign of Skeletor.

"He won't have gone far," said He-man raising his sword and entering the control room. The blade of the power sword began to glow, lighting the room in a bright light. In the not fully lit room they could see that Skeletor had left through a door at the back of the room. "Let's be careful, there's no telling what other traps Skeletor will have waiting for us."

As He-man and Flipshot slowly and carefully entered through the door that Skeletor had escaped through, ahead of them Skeletor was setting the final part of his plan in to action. Skeletor was standing on a walkway high above a drilling tunnel. The Mutants had used this tunnel to tap in to the molten core of Denebria to use the thermal energy to power the Mutant base and their weapons and arsenals. However like most of the Mutants plans the idea didn't work as anticipated, the tunnel was flooded with lava and was now a pool of hot magma, however it was sufficient for Skeletor's goals. Raising his left hand Skeletor used his magic to summon his Fazer Staff. The staff appeared in Skeletor's hand and Skeletor aimed its skull shaped head towards the solid crust that and formed over the magma pool. The eyes of the Fazer Staff lit up with purple electrical energy. The energy lashed out and struck the crust. Instantly cracks began to form and the glowing hot liquid below started to seep through. As the crust continued to be melted away by the magma Skeletor turned to set about the second part of is plan. He could hear He-man and Flipshot getting closer. Skeletor readied to attack a sudden flaw in his plan came to mind.

__

'Flipshot!' thought Skeletor as he realized the flaw. _'He has the ability of flight. I must neutralize that first.'_

Slowly Skeletor moved from his advantage point and made his way towards the entrance where He-man and Flipshot was coming from. Slowly Skeletor squeezed himself between two large fuel pipes the stood next to the only entrance that He-man and Flipshot could come through. As he was shrouded in the dark shadows Skeletor silently waited. He-man and Flipshot came running through the door and on to the catwalk. He-man was ahead of Flipshot and Skeletor used that to his advantage. Silent as a spirit Skeletor leapt out from his hiding place, Skeletor's swing-blade snapped in to place and he raised it high above his head ready to bring it crashing down on Flipshot.

He-man heard a snapping sound and stopped, he was in the middle of the catwalk that hung high above a pool of molten lava. Sensing Skeletor's evil presence He-man turned to see Skeletor leaping towards Flipshot.

"Flipshot!!" called out He-man.

But the warning came too late, Skeletor swung the swing-blade and the glowing edge of the razor disk crashed in to the back of Flipshot. Flipshot let out a cry of pain as the razor disk tore through his flight-pack and in to the armor of his fight suit. The force of the blow also sent Flipshot crashing face first to the metal surface of the catwalk. Skeletor removed the razor blade from Flipshot's back and raised it high for He-man to see.

"That clipped his wings," laughed Skeletor. "I should have thought about doing that to that flying monkey back on Eternia."

He-man's grip tightened on the hilt of his power sword, his fury growing as he saw blood drip off the edge of the razor blade.

"Now its time for your end." hissed Skeletor as he stepped towards He-man.

"Come Skeletor," He-man spat back, his temper as hot as the lava below him. "It is truly time we finished this."

Skeletor stepped on to the catwalk, the catwalk groaned under the weight of Skeletor's Disk of Doom armor.

With blinding speed He-man swung his sword up, a bolt of energy raced up the blade of the power sword and flew towards Skeletor.

Despite wearing his heavy armor, Skeletor was still agile enough to leap out of the way. As Skeletor soared over He-man's head, he swung his swing-blade at He-man. He-man quickly dropped to one knee and narrowly avoided being struck by the swing-blade. The catwalk shook as Skeletor landed in a crouching position. He-man quickly span around and raised his sword up in time to fend off a attack by the charging Skeletor.

"Don't you see it?!" Skeletor snarled in to He-man's face. "My time has finally arrived."

Skeletor then swung the swing-blade down towards He-man. The razor disk snapped in to place. He-man threw both his hands up and grasped the razor disk inches away from his face. The deadly energy of the Jewel of Amara began to seep from the surface of the razor disk and in to He-man's body instantly reawaking his deepest and darkest fears. He-man struggled to withstand the assault.

Skeletor's eyes burned as bright as the lava below his feet as he used all his weight to press the razor blade ever closer to He-man's face.

"Give it up!" snarled Skeletor. "This is finally over!"

He-man glared through the haze of emotion that the power of Amara had stirred inside him, and in to Skeletor's evil eyes.

"N-N-Never!!" hissed He-man through gritted teeth.

Slowly the haze began to pass and He-man began feeling his energy return. Skeletor once again threw his weight towards He-man but the razor blade move no further. Suddenly the blade of the power sword flared with energy momentarily blinding Skeletor. As Skeletor backed away He-man grabbed hold of Skeletor's swing-blade. Using all his mighty strength, He-man hurled Skeletor off his feet and crashing in the wall of metal pipes on the other side of the catwalk. The impact of Skeletor hitting the wall shook the entire room. Quickly shaking off the dizziness of the blow, Skeletor leapt to his feet. With blur of movement, Skeletor swung the swing-blade up and released the glowing razor disk. The disk ripped through the air towards He-man. He-man stood his ground and waited with his power sword ready. Then as the disk neared him, He-man swung the power sword through the air. Skeletor watched with amazed fury as He-man's power sword spun through the air as if it was a disk itself, the two weapons then struck each other in an explosion of magical and technical energy. Through the light two shapes shot out and to Skeletor's horror he saw that the shapes were once the razor disk. The disk that had so easily cut through the armor of a battle tank was now cleanly sliced in half. The two halves of the razor disk had completely lost their red glow as the power that they were infused with evaporated. He-man caught the power sword as it spun its way back to him, the two halves of the razor disk wildly crashed in to the pipes that lined the walls around the catwalk and lava pool. As one stuck fast in to a large pipe the other half of the razor disk clipped a thick group of pipes and was sent in a new direction, that being one directly towards Skeletor. Not even wasting a single heartbeat on the on coming disk fragment Skeletor raised his left hand, a bolt of magic then shot from his palm and slammed in to the half of the razor disk. Ignoring and not caring in which direction the disk fragment was now headed Skeletor turned back to face He-man.

The disk fragment hurtled across the room and struck a support beam taking a large piece out of it. Skeletor raced forward to attack He-man with his swing-blade as the support beam gave a screeching cry as it gave way and collapsed bringing a large section of the roof down. As girders, pipes, cables and large bits of the roof came crashing towards the catwalk and lava pool Skeletor leapt backwards and narrowly avoided being struck by a falling girder. The girder struck the lava pool and sent up a splash of molten magma in to the air.

He-man stepped towards Skeletor, anger at Skeletor's death blow to Flipshot threatening to boil over.

"You have gone too far this time," hissed He-man as he swiped away a piece of debris that was falling towards him. "You will be finally brought to justice one way or the other!"

"You pathetic heroic fool!" replied Skeletor as he reached in to a pocket on his armor. His fingers brushed against the surface of the Jewel of Amara, instantly he felt an idea formulate, an idea that would allow him to take advantage in the conflict. However as Skeletor was preparing to attack He-man once more he failed to notice a girder getting snared in some cables. The girder swung around and struck Skeletor hard just as he raised the Jewel of Amara. Skeletor was thrown over the side of the catwalk and the jewel flew out of his hand to get caught in a bundle of cables and debris. Using incredible speed and strength Skeletor shot out a hand and grabbed hold of the catwalk.

He-man watched as Skeletor narrowly saved himself from certain death. Inside He-man wanted to leave Skeletor to his fate, but He-man lived by a code of honor so he raced across the catwalk avoiding the falling debris along the way and reached for Skeletor's arm.

"Why won't you ever learn!" hissed Skeletor as he glared in to He-man's eyes. "Saving me will only bring your destruction much closer!"

"Shut up Skeletor and give me your hand!" replied He-man as he grabbed Skeletor by his arm, however the arm He-man grabbed was the arm that Skeletor had his swing-blade attached to. Skeletor smiled as he saw He-man grunt in pain as the blade cut in to his hands.

Then out of the corner of his eye Skeletor saw the Glow of the Jewel of Amara.

"Stop moving!" said He-man as the blade cut deeper in to his hands. "And give me your other hand."

Skeletor ignored He-man's request and reached towards the Jewel of Amara.

"Leave it Skeletor!" said He-man as he saw what Skeletor was attempting to do. "Its not worth your life, you're too heavy to lift. Give me your other hand and drop the armor."

Skeletor briefly looked back at He-man.

"Anything that ends your life shall be worth more than anything." hissed Skeletor; he then swung his free arm back towards the jewel. 

The movement caused He-man's bloody hands slipped along the blade. Suddenly He-man lost his grip and Skeletor slipped from his grasp.

Skeletor's fingers were inches away from the jewel when he suddenly felt himself slip. 

"NOOOOOO!!!" screamed Skeletor as he started to fall towards the lava pool. 

He-man tried to make a desperate grab at the falling Skeletor, but the weight of Skeletor's Disks of Doom armor was dragging him down too fast.

Helpless He-man could only watch as the falling Skeletor lashed out with his left hand. With a flash of purple energy Skeletor's Fazer Staff appeared in his hand. Instantly the eyes set in the skull on top of the staff glowed with purple energy, smoke started to circle around Skeletor's body, and then just inches from hitting the lava Skeletor vanished.

He-man saw the last wisps of smoke that rescued Skeletor from his fate, as it faded away. Then something caught He-man's eye, looking up He-man saw the glow of the Jewel of Amara sat inside its cradle of cables and debris. Now that it had nothing to focus its deadly energy the jewel's effects were harmless.

__

'The jewel is too dangerous to remain in existence.' thought He-man as he tried to work out a way to destroy the jewel.

Back on Eternia it was the power and spirit of the royal bloodline, including Skeletor, that had seemingly destroyed the jewel the first time, or it would have if Skeletor's dark mind hadn't hidden the jewel and allowed them to think they had succeeded. But there was no Eternian royal bloodline in the Tri-Solar system, his family was still on Eternia. The only other person was Skeletor, but he had used his magic to escape a certain death. He-man examined the cables suddenly coming up with an idea, the cables were all that was stopping the entire structure from collapsing, by cutting through the cables the jewel would be forever buried. He-man raised his sword ready to throw it towards the cables when he stopped and turned to look over at the still body of Flipshot.

__

'Should I make this _Flipshot's eternal tomb,' _thought He-man. _'Or should I return the body to his family.'_

Just as He-man was about to turn to complete his task he caught a movement from Flipshot, the movement was ever so slight and He-man thought he had been imaging things when Flipshot's finger jerked. Spurned on by the realization that Flipshot was alive He-man quickly span around and threw his sword at the bundle of cables, the sword cut through the cables and the jewel fell towards the lava pool, instantly followed by what reminded of the roof. He-man raced across the debris covered catwalk towards Flipshot. As the Jewel of Amara hit the lava pool the lava began to bubble and boil, then with a mighty ground shaking roar the lava erupted in to the room. As the lava started to swallow the room He-man grabbed Flipshot in one hand caught his returning sword in the other. Without wasting a second He-man raced through the door and in to the corridor beyond.

Brakk's base was shaking itself apart as the lava continued to rampage through its corridors. Not far ahead of the lava He-man raced as fast as his mighty legs could carry him and Flipshot. He-man then burst in to the room which they had confronted Skeletor before he had led them down towards the lava pool. He-man didn't stop he just vaulted over the debris that littered the way, towards the ruined hull off the battle tank and down the corridor that led to the exit of the base. He-man's muscles were screaming as he rounded corner after corner of the seemingly endless corridor. Looking over his shoulder he saw the lava rapidly racing towards him. He-man turned away and saw the end of the corridor; the huge doors of the base were closed blocking any way out. Refusing to be defeated He-man raised his sword and using all the energy he could muster He-man concentrated allowing the power of Grayskull to flow from his body and in to the power sword. The blade of the power sword glowed as bright as a supernova. He-man swung the sword and the energy built up in the sword shot out and struck the doors.

The doors exploded in to a shower of energy and debris. Through the cloud of destruction He-man jumped just as the lava engulfed the corridor.

He-man landed on his feet and turned to see Brakk's base collapse in on itself.

On He-man's shoulder Flipshot slowly regained conscious.

"What did I miss?" asked Flipshot weakly.

He-man smiled.

"I'll tell you later."


	9. Epilogue

Epilogue 

Flipshot slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a familiar room. It took him a few minutes to realize that he was back on Primus, in its main hospital. Flipshot tried to sit up but was held down by a powerful hand.

"Lay down, you need the rest." said a voice that Flipshot recognized as He-man's.

"What happened?" asked Flipshot.

"Your armor seemed to be a lot stronger than imagined." said Darius who was also standing by his medical-bed.

Alongside him were Hydron, Tuskador and Mara.

"What about the attack?" said Flipshot. "And the jewel?"

"We sent the Mutants packing," said Darius. "I'm sure they're heading home to lick their wounds as we speak."

"But not to Brakk's base on Denebria," said He-man. "That base is under tons of lava, and so is the Jewel of Amara."

Brakk stood in front of what was once his base on Denebria. His fury was at an all time high, not only had his attack on Primus been thwarted, but Skeletor had somehow destroyed his base of operations in this part of Denebria.

"I will make him pay dearly for this," vowed Brakk as he turned to walk away. "Oh how I'll make him pay."

Back at the still smoldering ruins of Brakk's base among the dying embers of the lava a dull red glow began to grow brighter and brighter . . .


End file.
